Participation Across Municipal Borders: Lessons from Schenna and Dorf Tirol
How participatory processes and inter-municipal exchange foster acceptance and co-creation in sustainable landscape development across South Tyrol.
In alpine and pre-alpine regions, sustainable development depends not only on good planning, but on shared responsibility. This became especially clear during a recent joint stakeholder forum bringing together the municipalities of Schenna and Tirol, with the participation of both mayors, local stakeholders, and our partners LIA collective, Terra Institute, Valmontis, Sabina Frei and Klaudia Resch.
The exchange highlighted the added value of participatory processes and inter-municipal dialogue: development does not stop at administrative borders, and neither do ecological systems, landscapes, or everyday spaces. By working together, municipalities can better balance environmental protection, landscape quality, and territorial development – especially in fragile mountain contexts.
As part of LAND’s ongoing work in South Tyrol, these processes build on the South Tyrol Landscape Strategy, translating a shared regional vision into concrete, local action. In Schenna and Tirol, participation is not an add-on but the foundation for technical planning, which ensures that ecological networks, productive landscapes, and public spaces evolve together.
As Annelies Pichler, Mayor of Schenna, puts it:“Municipal development needs many voices. That doesn’t make the work easier, but it makes it better. Clear organisation, honest communication, and realistic expectations are essential. In Schenna, the results of participation were not a side programme, they formed the basis of the technical work. Exchange with a neighbouring municipality like Dorf Tirol is especially valuable, because development does not end at municipal boundaries.”
One landscape, many voices: a strong reminder that meaningful transformation begins with listening, cooperation, and shared ownership.
